


you’re so steady, you don’t tip over

by worstgirl



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Double Date, M/M, deere, deere-centric, did i take inspiration from me n my gf from some dialogue?, dillinjer - Freeform, expensive headphones, implied nsfw, jeremy had a skater phase, paida in the background because i am tbwdoa trash, platonic boyf riends - Freeform, rich is a little mean but he doesn’t mean it, roller skating, shut up, yes - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:28:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24529915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/worstgirl/pseuds/worstgirl
Summary: song title from carry me by the original crooks and nannies~~~soft deere and expensive headphones double date because god knows we all need fluff right now. (plus, a paida cameo.)
Relationships: Jake Dillinger/Jeremy Heere, Jeremy Heere & Michael Mell, Other Minor Relationships, Rich Goranski/Michael Mell
Comments: 8
Kudos: 33





	you’re so steady, you don’t tip over

Jeremy Heere may be a huge mess of a human being, but he did try to avoid the whole ‘let’s embarrass myself in front of my boyfriend’ scenario. He was new to this— he’d barely come out two months ago, and he’d been dating Jake for maybe half that. His relationship experience was almost comically bad, but he at least knew that doing something he was terrible at on a date with Jake would probably not end well.

And then Michael invited them to go rollerskating with him and Rich during the teens night at the rink. 

Now, usually, he’d be all for rollerskating with Michael. They used to do it when they were kids, and it always made him laugh to see Michael skate circles around him on the skates he’d found at the thrift store. Except now, as a seventeen year old with about as much balance as Bambi on ice, he was significantly less amused. 

He’d agreed to it, not wanting to be a buzzkill. And it wouldn’t be that bad. He’d probably just fall over and make a fool of himself and make Jake realize what a loser he was dating and make him break up with him. 

“Jere, he’s head over heels for you, he’s not going to break up with you because you can’t rollerskate.” Michael said, not even looking down at Jeremy, who was dramatically draped over his lap as he played Skyrim. “And if he does, I’ll teach you how to skate to win back his love a la Sandy in Grease.” 

“But he’s cool, he’s probably all— all suave and good at skating, because he’s good at everything, and when I said I could skate, I meant I had a skateboard phase, and—“ 

Michael dropped his hand on top of Jeremy’s mouth. Michael was one of maybe three people who could touch Jeremy at any point in time. It’s kind of hard to still have touch issues with someone who has known you since you were a toddler and saved you from the creepy supercomputer hivemind. “Yes, Jere, I know about your skater phase. I was there. But seriously, the most you have to be worried about is falling over. Jake’s a good guy, and I trust him with your safety. He’s not going to break up with you just because you can’t skate.” 

Jeremy looked at him for a moment, and suddenly, Michael jerked away his hand. “Ew, dude, did you just— ewww, that’s gay.” Michael wiped his hand on Jeremy’s face, making him chuckle. 

“Michael, you literally have a boyfriend.”

“You got me there.” 

And so Jeremy found himself jittering with nervousness as they laced up their skates at the rink. He sat next to Jake, who had just gotten his to rent. Jake nudged him, giving him a grin. “Hey, you good?” There was a bit of concern in his voice, his eyes soft. Fuck, Jeremy was such a goner. 

“What— yeah. I’m fine.” He gave a quick grin, bending over to lace up his skates. Alright, Heere, just breathe. Remember— not the end of the world. Jake stood up with the ease of someone that’s done this a million times, and Jeremy tried to do the same. For a second or two, he thought he was fine, his feet stayed under him like they were supposed to, all was fine and dandy. 

And then his feet decided they didn’t like each other and skittered off in different directions, sending Jeremy tumbling into Jake. Thank god the other boy was much taller and broader than him, and caught him with ease, otherwise he would have gotten serious carpet burn on his face. And with his acne that was still stubbornly cropping up, well, he doubted that would be too pretty. 

“Sorry, um.” He said, his cheeks pink as Jake set him back on his feet. “I just—“

“I mean, I knew you fell for me, but I didn’t mean like that.” Jake said, grinning in that annoying way he had, the way that made Jeremy want to kiss him over and over again. But he had restraint. 

So he opted for lightly swatting the other boy’s arm, his cheeks red. “Shut up, you dork.” He huffed, sticking out his tongue. He managed to get himself standing properly. Mentally, he scolded his feet for betraying him. 

Then, a loud noise from his right startled him, and he yelped, falling flat on his ass on the ground. “Rich!” He heard Michael’s voice call, like an amused, yet disapproving mother. “What have I told you about scaring Jeremy?” Michael grabbed him around the shoulders, rubbing his hair. 

Rich pushed away his hands, sighing dramatically. “Jeremy has the bravery of a rat in the cage that’s been injected with steroids to act like it’s on enough caffeine to kill a water buffalo, and I’m not supposed to freak him out.” He said, sounding dejected, but he couldn’t help but shoot a grin towards Jeremy. 

Michael huffed. “Excuse me, I did not say that.” 

“You okay?” Jake asked, helping Jeremy up. His hands were big. Jeremy vaguely wondered what else was— okay, nope, libido, you shut your mouth. He’d think about that later. He nodded quickly. 

“Yeah, Rich is just an asshole.” He huffed, sticking his tongue out at the shorter boy, who gasped in mock offense. 

“My good sir, I am nothing but polite to you!” He said, in a dramatically British accent. He dropped it after a second. “But seriously, sorry, man. Didn’t know you’d freak like that.” He gave a sympathetic smile, before it morphed into a grin as he grabbed Michael’s hand. “Couples only on the dance floor, let’s go!” 

Michael stumbled a bit, but he caught himself, heading after his boyfriend. He shot a look at Jeremy, which Jeremy hoped meant ‘I believe in you, you’re going to do great and not fall over’ but most likely meant ‘Hey, your fly’s undone, and your hair looks like a rat’s nest.’ Okay, maybe that was a bit dramatic. 

Jeremy looked over at Jake, who was still his support. He tried not to think too far into that metaphor, he didn’t need to deal with his anxious brain and his analyzing brain. “Um— sorry. I’m not— I’m not too good at skating.” He said with an awkward grin. 

“That’s all good, babe.” That was still something that made Jeremy go red in the face. He’d never get tired of that nickname. “I mean, I did hockey, so I know how to ice skate, so it’s basically the same thing.” 

“I mean— I know how to skateboard, and that’s— definitely not the same thing. At all.” They made their way, slowly, to the rink, Jake going backwards and glancing over his shoulder. Jeremy kind of felt like he was five, and he almost let go of Jake’s hands. Then they were off of the carpeted section, and Jeremy’s feet decided they hated being his support again. 

“Sorry, sorry!” He yelped, his cheeks turning even darker red. He always blushed around Jake. Jake laughed, but it didn’t sound mean, not as his hands gently helped steady Jeremy, one on his waist and the other in his hand, like they were about to waltz. 

“You’re all good.” Jake said, brushing Jeremy’s hair out of his face. “C’mon, wanna learn how I did?” 

A younger kid, who couldn’t be any older than thirteen, whizzed past him, ponytails flying behind her like streamers on bike handles. He couldn’t help the pout that formed on his face. “That is so unfair.”

Jake’s laugh made him feel a little less shitty. It was just… alarmingly calming. “Okay, okay, just push off with one foot, glide, push off.”

“I think you have way more faith in my gliding abilities than I do.” Jeremy pointed out, but he tried what Jake said, keeping a grip on the other boy’s forearms. He wobbled a bit. “Geez, I feel so awkward, just holding onto you.”

“I don’t mind you holding onto me. And if you feel uncomfortable, I mean, you’re not the only one.” Jake kept him steady, nodding to a nearby couple, who were playfully bantering. 

“Paiman, don’t you dare let go, you know that your foot isn’t entirely healed—“ The boy in the beanie scolded, giving the other a look of loving frustration, as if he’d seen the other do things like this all the time. 

“Feda, shush, I’m going to skate.” The boy let go of his hand, wobbling a bit. It was clear that his other leg wasn’t quite working right. They had a slight accent that Jeremy wasn’t going to try and figure out. He’d probably end up being slightly racist.

“You’re going to hurt yourself more, and—“ 

“And then you’ll have to baby me.” The boy with the messed up foot, Paiman, shot the other boy a mischievous grin, clearly sounding proud of himself. 

The other boy, Feda, let out a sigh, rolling his eyes in amusement. “You’re crafty, you know that? Maybe I’ll just leave you to whine.”

Paiman pulled the other boy close, stealing his beanie and ruffling his hair. “You know you’d never last.” 

“I know, I know.” Feda laughed, grabbing for the hat. 

Jeremy and Jake exchanged a glance, before bursting into laughter. “He sounds like you!” Jake said, poking Jeremy’s cheek. 

“He does not! Jerk.” Jeremy huffed, his face flushing. He poked Jake back, letting go of his arm for a moment to do so. He wobbled a bit, but regained his balance. 

“Are you two done arguing like an old married couple?” Rich skidded up alongside them. “C’mon, we’re skating!” 

Ah. Jeremy felt his face go white for a moment. Were they arguing? Was Jake mad at him? Fuck, was he— but he saw Jake’s face, the way he glanced over at him with a kind of panicked air. He squeezed his hand. They were fine. “Well, you may be, but in case you didn’t notice, I kind of suck.” Jeremy pointed out, trying to make a joke out of it. 

“No shit.” Rich said with a grin, skating backwards. Michael rolled his eyes, and Jeremy was reminded of the two boys, who were still affectionately squabbling on the other side of the rink. 

“I’ve got you, c’mon.” Jake said, grinning at him, before tugging him along. “Push with your feet and glide, you’ve got it.”

Rich thankfully laid off, catching up with Michael, tossing his arms over his shoulders— well, as best as he could, with the height difference, leaving Jake and Jeremy to practice. 

It took Jeremy at least three tries to go a total of ten feet without falling. But this was one of the first times he’d skated without ending up on the floor crying, or holding onto the wall so tightly his hand hurt. Finally, the rink cleared out for the most part, and they decided to head home. As they turned in their skates, Jeremy caught a glimpse of the boys from earlier, Feda untying the other’s skate. “—told you you’d end up hurting yourself, you idiot.”

“You love me.” Paiman had stolen the beanie at some point, the hat askew over his dark hair. 

“Yeah, yeah, don’t let it get to your head.” 

Jeremy smiled a bit, leaning against Jake as they walked out. “God, I am so thankful for normal sneakers now.” He said, dramatically sighing. 

“Next time we’ll make sure to go on a date where you can actually enjoy it.” Jake said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. God, that boy made Jeremy feel so… warm, and safe. It was literal magic, he was pretty sure. 

“I dunno, I got to hold your hand almost the whole time, so that’s nice.” 

Rich groaned. “Ewww, that’s gay.” He said dramatically, although he was holding Michael’s hand at that very moment. Michael raised an eyebrow at him, also raising their hands. “...and so am I, your point?” 

“My point is, do you guys wanna go get ice cream? There’s a little place down the street.” Michael offered, looking at Jeremy and Jake. 

“Mm, yeah, I can get a popsicle to put on the carpet burns Rich gave me when I fell over.” Jeremy said sarcastically, before flushing. Ah, yeah, great idea to say that in the middle of a group of gay men. 

Jake snorted. “Hey, Jere, that’s kind of—“

“Say gay and I will push you over.” Jeremy huffed, which made Jake laugh again. 

They made their way to the ice cream shop, ending up sitting on the guard rail on the outside of the parking lot. Michael and Rich sat a little ways down, fooling around. Jeremy watched as Michael jokingly smeared chocolate ice cream on Rich’s face, making him shriek. He snorted, looking up at Jake when he nudged him. 

“I had fun today.” Jake said, giving him a tiny smile. “We should go skateboarding next.” 

“Oh, god, I told you about my skater boy phase, didn’t I—“ Jeremy groaned, licking the vanilla ice cream off his hand where it dripped. Michael always teased him about liking vanilla. Which, all things considered,  _ was _ pretty ironic. 

“He was a skater boy, she said see you later boy—“ Jake started, clearly trying not to burst into laughter. 

“Oh, shut up.” Jeremy said with a laugh, leaning forwards and kissing Jake, his eyes closing. He liked doing this, he didn’t usually initiate. But it felt… right. Better than anyone he’d kissed before. 

That is, until Jake stole his ice cream cone from his hand and pulled away, licking it. Jeremy gasped in mock offense. “Devil boy! Rude!” He huffed, before snatching it back. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding, you’re not rude, you’re really nice, and I really like you—“ 

“Hey, Jere?” Jake said, smiling a bit. “To quote, you, shut up.” And then they were kissing again, and Jeremy felt his anxiety melting away. He knew it wasn’t perfect, and they weren’t perfect, but he didn’t care about his gangly way of skating, or the ice cream dripping on his hand, or the fact that he probably smelled gross. Jake made him feel safe, and that was enough for him at the moment. 

**Author's Note:**

> hey all!! sorry for being mia for so long and not writing a serious fic in ages. but here’s some fluff for you guys!!
> 
> (also, if you want to cry, please please listen to the boy who danced on air. i’m writing some stuff for them so they can have a happy ending.)
> 
> please please please stay safe, and stay wonderful, loves!! remember: black lives matter, keep your hands clean, and fuck cops. 
> 
> ~ percy


End file.
